


a whole life so lonely (and then come and ease the pain)

by jim_morrisenpai



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Bad Parenting, Best Friends, Disappointing Birthdays, Falling In Love, First Kiss, LITERALLY, M/M, falling off of rooves and into rosebushes, what is the plural for roof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-24 23:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14365779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jim_morrisenpai/pseuds/jim_morrisenpai
Summary: Charlie knew that his birthday was the ninth day in the month that started with F, and that Mac’s wasn’t very far away after his, in one of the A months. He often got April and August mixed up, but he never forgot Mac’s birthday somehow. It was too important.





	a whole life so lonely (and then come and ease the pain)

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [SunnyRarePairs2](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SunnyRarePairs2) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> First kiss. Did they like it? Both of em? Or just one? Can be ace Charlie or not!
> 
>  
> 
> i hope i did them justice!! title is from "eternal flame" by the bangles

It happened the first time on a Tuesday in 1992.

Charlie was barely keeping track of calendar days by eighth grade. He’d keep an eye on the month usually, just to know how long it would be until school let out. The months with J’s usually didn’t have a lot of school, and he knew the one that started with D had Christmas, which also meant less school at the end of it. He knew his birthday was the ninth day in the month that started with F, and that Mac’s wasn’t very far away after his, in one of the A months. He often got April and August mixed up, but he never forgot Mac’s birthday somehow. It was too important.

They were on their way home from school, kicking rocks along the side of the road.

“I thought maybe he’d call me this year, you know? Because 15 is a big deal, in 5 years I’ll be 20.”

Charlie shrugged. “He still might. Or maybe he’s waiting until you turn 18.”

Mac chewed his lip thoughtfully, then looked worried. “What if he already called while I was at school dude? What if he’s calling right now?”

“Shit, we better hustle,” Charlie said, picking up his pace.

Both were out of breath by the time they reached Mac’s house. “Hey mom,” Mac greeted, setting down his bookbag. “Did dad call?” 

Charlie saw Mac’s shoulders slump as Mrs. Mac grunted. He cleared his throat. “Mac, could I spend the night? I asked my mom already this morning and it’s fine with her. She says happy birthday, too.”

Somehow, this seemed to only further Mac’s devastation, and he looked between his own mother and Charlie. “Yeah Charlie, that’s fine. This way if my dad calls I won’t be at your house. And we can at least hang out for my birthday still.” He didn’t sound hopeful about this, but the two of them slunk to his room.

A few hours later they were sitting on Mac’s roof outside his room, throwing rocks and garbage from Mac’s room. Mac hadn’t been able to look at Charlie for a while.

“He’s not going to call,” Mac suddenly admitted, sounding broken.

“Dude, we haven’t been waiting that long,” Charlie insisted. He felt kind of worried; Mac never had realizations like this. Mac usually seemed to live in his own world of comfortable denial, and only now did Charlie see why. “You might be right, but it’s alright-”

“Actually it’s not alright, Charlie! This sucks, this sucks really bad.” Mac threw some kind of action figure as hard as he could towards his neighbor’s house. Charlie watched as it hit the siding and broke. “My mom doesn’t give a shit that it’s my birthday, my dad doesn’t give a shit that it’s my birthday, jesus christ. Why should I give a shit that it’s my birthday?”

Charlie shrank into himself a little, then put an arm around Mac’s shoulders. “Because your birthday’s important, dude. I care, and if you come over tomorrow my mom can make you a cake-”

“Fuck off, Charlie!” Mac snapped, shrugging off Charlie’s arm violently. “Fuck you, you don’t even know what it’s like to have a dad! You have no idea what I’m going through, and I don’t need your stupid fucking pity either.”

Taken aback, Charlie stared at Mac for a few seconds, then scooted down towards the edge of the roof. Peering over the ledge, he sighed. He probably couldn’t make this better. And he was pretty sure that Mac absolutely did need his pity. But he wouldn’t argue with him on that one. “Do you think I could make it to the bushes if I jumped?”

Pulling his eyebrows together, Mac looked at Charlie for the first time since they crawled out onto the roof. “What the hell would you want to do that for?”

“Bet it would feel pretty badass to just jump off this roof.”

“Charlie, that’s two stories. You could break your leg. Or your neck.”

Shrugging, Charlie shook his head. “Nah, I’d do it like those guys in action movies. You know, tuck and roll? Bet it would feel like flying, like a bird.”

“Or dying like an idiot.”

“Dying like a badass,” Charlie corrected, standing up on the roof precariously.

Mac stood up too, edging his way closer to Charlie. “There is no way it would be worth it, let’s just go inside, okay?”

Charlie nodded and turned around, but it was too fast and at the wrong angle. As soon as Mac saw Charlie’s arms start to flail, he panicked and leaned forwards, grabbing the chest of Charlie’s shirt. Charlie started to fall backwards and Mac came crashing down over the roof with him, landing in a dead rosebush next to Mac’s house.

 

After coming to the realization that he wasn’t dead, Mac assessed the damage and realized that Charlie, underneath him, had taken most of the fall. And a lot of thorns. And he was probably dead.

“Charlie?” Mac patted his cheek in a frenzy. “Don’t you dare be dead, this is the least badass and absolute dumbest way to die.”

Charlie opened his eyes. Making eye contact with Mac, he inhaled wheezily. “You’re crushing me? Why are you crushing me?”

Mac tried to stand and winced. “This sucks so hard, you owe me so bad for this.”

“Yeah?” Charlie nodded wearily, getting more thorns caught in his hair and on his scalp. “‘S really does suck. Happy birthday gift,” he said, sounding sleepy and out of it. 

“Dude, you look like shit. Uh, hang on.” Mac managed to stand up and started trying to rip Charlie from the bush, wincing at every tired ‘ouch.’ “You are bleeding so bad.”

“Does it look badass?”

“No Charlie! It looks bad! You look like ass, like you fell into a rosebush, you fucking idiot!”

“Yeah, but I fell for you. I mean, ‘coz you pushed me.”

Mac rolled his eyes. “You fell because you were too heavy for me to pull you to safety. I pulled you, bro. I didn’t push you.”

“I’ll pull you to safety.”

“You’re delirious, we need to get you inside.”

 

Charlie was covered in bandages and cat-like scratches. “I don’t feel good.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

“It was worth it,” he admitted, knowing Mac would never understand why.

“That I doubt.” Mac was lying down next to Charlie in bed.

“I didn’t give you your birthday present.”

Looking over at Charlie, Mac turned on his side. “Can I have it now?”

Charlie winced and sat up a little. “Yeah, c’mere.”

Mac leaned in a tiny bit, and Charlie closed the distance between them, having no idea what he was doing. Their lips crashed together aggressively and Mac immediately froze, sitting up to grab Charlie’s shoulders and pull him away.

“Charlie-”

“Mac, I-”

“That’s not what a kiss should be like,” Mac said gently. He carefully put a hand on the nape of Charlie’s neck, trying not to hurt any of his cuts or bruises. Leaning in slowly, he rubbed Charlie’s neck with his thumb and pressed their lips together softly. Charlie closed his eyes and pulled Mac closer, shaking with excitement and nerves.

When Mac pulled away, Charlie took a deep breath. Neither of them let go of the other.

“I am really, really sorry your birthday sucked,” Charlie emphasized.

Mac rested his forehead against Charlie’s and huffed. “It wasn’t the worst. You’re going to need a thousand years of beauty sleep to get over what that rosebush did to you, though.”

“So, so worth it.”

 

The next morning, Mac called the kiss ‘practice,’ but Charlie already felt it settling in his mind as ‘important.’ After school, they went to Charlie’s house, where Charlie’s mom made Mac a birthday cake and lit candles. After they sang to him, Mac blew out the candles and wished that his dad would call, and that his mom would be happy, and that Charlie would never, ever leave his side.

The last wish came true.


End file.
